And The Gun Went Bang
by MilWifey
Summary: One second can change the trajectory of life. Picks up at the end of the season one finale.
1. Chapter 1

The chaos inside the morgue rivaled that going on outside police headquarters. SWAT stormed in like a tornado touching down. No one seemed to notice the blonde that slipped out quickly, sprinting towards the stairwell that would take her to the main doors.

Time seemed to stop as the blood burst out of Bobby's back and a split second later both he and Jane hit the ground with a terrible thud.

In that second she could hear someone screaming and realized it was coming from her own throat. As if someone pressed fast forward, the world sped up and chaos broke out. Police Officer's snapped out of the horror their minds were still trying to process. They were trained to react even if their minds couldn't comprehend.

She landed with a thud next to Korsak. He was already pressing his jacket down on Jane's wounds. She was on her side were she had fallen, Bobby still half under, half on top of her, his eyes open and unseeing. He was probably dead the moment the bullet burst through his chest.

And then Korsak's voice was penetrating the haze around her. "Doc, she's alive. Doc. Help her!"

Jane's eyes were wide open and unfocused. They were frantically darting around, her breath coming in gasping hitches as she tried to pull air into her lungs.

"Keep breathing Jane. Hang on. Doc's going to patch you right up." Korsak's soothing voice barely audible over Jane's gasps.

Maura quickly assessed the wound on Jane's lower right abdomin and the much larger wound in the center of Jane's upper back.

"Frost!" The young detective dropped to his knees next to Jane's head. She grabbed his hands, placing them on both sides of Jane's head. "Keep her head still. I don't know if her spine has been compromised." Her voice sounded deceptively calm even though her insides were a quivering mass of jello as she fought desperately to keep yet another Rizzoli alive.

Jane's hand jerked out of hers with surprising strength clawing at her throat.

"On the count of three roll her onto her back. Get him out from under her!" She barely spared a glance at one of the police officer's nearby. "Quickly but steady. Keep her back aligned. One. Two. Three."

Grabbing the hand still clawing frantically at her throat, Maura leaned over Jane. "Jane I have to help you breath." With a quick squeeze of Jane's hand Maura tilted Jane's head back, she lowered her mouth to Jane's and began rescue breaths.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I'm not a doctor. If I was, this story would be much easier to write. Please let me know what you think. It makes me write faster.

Later on she wouldn't remember the ambulance arrival or placing the breathing tube down her best friends throat. Or rhythmically squeezing it in the back of the ambulance. It was only when the trauma team forced her hand away and a too-kind nurse helped her into the nurses locker room and changing into scrubs did she snap out of it long enough to realize she had even left the front of the police station.

That had been ten hours ago. The group that had settled in a private waiting room on the OR floor was in various states of shock.

Frost had begun a slow pace down the length of the room before glancing at the door, shaking his head, frowning, then turning around and heading back the length of the room. Korsak sat on one side of Angela, Frank sat on the other side. Both Frank and Angela had recently returned from visiting with Frankie. He was spending the night in ICU and would be moved to a regular room in the morning, most likely he would be able to go home in a few days. Angela had seemed to calm down now that seeing her youngest son was alive and would be alright.

And then there was Maura. Her eyes were locked on a chip in one of the tiles on the floor. She hadn't moved since they were led to the room hours ago. Her hands clenched and unclenchend, over and over. She looked frightenly pale and more than once the other occupents of the room thought they would have to pick her up from the floor as it seems like the bones in her own body weighed to much for her back to hold up. She sat slightly slumped to one side. Every so often her mouth would tighten into a thin line, her eyes dart frantically, before a sigh would escape and her eyes focused once again on that tile. In fact it was that tile that kept her grounded in reality as the panic rose in her chest threatening to cut off circulation and send her to a heap of black oblivion. If it weren't for her best friend fighting for her life not very far away, she would have given in to the darkness. She just wanted this day to end. Suddenly the thought of Jane as best friend seemed hilarious and a small chuckle escaped. Jane was way more than best friend and both women were struggling to figure out just what they were to each other. Somehow best friend seemed inadequate.

Barry stopped his slow pacing when he heard the sound escape from the medical examiners mouth. Everyone in the room thought maybe she was finally giving in to the stress and trauma of the day.

Maura was saved from further scrutinization by the door to the waiting room opening. The nurse that had checked in on them a few times during the long wait stepped into the room followed by a tall doctor in scrubs and a white lab coat. He looked bone weary exhausted but he gave them a small smile before settling in front of Angela.

"Mrs. Rizzoli, Mr. Rizzoli." He looked between his patients parents already having been informed by the nurse that everyone in the room was privy to the status and information of his patient. They all looked haggard, he felt haggard. This was the part of his job that he hated the most. He could mend broken bones but his words would not mend broken souls.

"I'm Doctor Calder. Jane is being moved to the recovery room right now. Your daughter is very tough."

Beside him Frost chuckled before clearing his throat. "The toughest."

"I bet." The doctor nodded at Frost before turning back. "The bullet left a nasty path of distruction hitting her kidney, spleen, diaphram before passing diagonally through four ribs, her right lung and several vertebrae before exiting her body." Angela gasped, leaning farther into Frank. "We've repaired the damage to her kidney and diaphragm. Her spleen had to come out but that won't affect her quality of life. Her broken ribs splintered pretty badly so it took quiet awhile to remove and patch up her lungs. Right now a ventilator is breathing for her as her lungs and diaphragm heal we should be able to wean her and get her used to breathing on her own." He glanced from each member in the room gageing how they would react to what he was about to tell them.

"We called in Boston's best neurosurgeon to finish the surgery. This was the most tricky and delicate part. The bullet shattered the T-6, 7, and 8 vertebrae. We went in and removed as much of the bone fragments as we could. However, several are too close to the cord and we feel removing these fragments will cause more harm."

Only two people in the room knew the real impact of the injury. Maura scrubbed her hand over her face before locking eyes with Korsak. The bullet hadn't killed her but this injury would kill the career Jane defined herself with.

"When she wakes up we will asses the level of neurological damage."

"Wait." Angela spoke up, looking confused at the surgeon and then Maura. "I don't understand. Are you saying she's paralyzed?" Her voice hitched.

"We expect paralysis. With therapy we hope she will regain some functioning but the damage was quite severe. Spinal chord injuries can be very tricky. Right now we have her in a medically induced coma to help her body heal. I'll have the nurse let you know when we move her to ICU."

And with that the doctor left leaving only silence and destruction, just like the bullet fired from Jane's own gun just hours before.


End file.
